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Macworld 2010 Changes Dates to February 9-13

Macworld has just sent out an email telling interested parties that they're changing the dates for their annual Expo from the traditional early January, to roughly a month later:

As we began the planning process for 2010, the Mac community - exhibitors, attendees, media and fans of the show - made it clear that February would be a more ideal time to hold the event, so we listened. The Conference programs are scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday, February 9 - 13 and the Expo will be held Thursday through Saturday, February 11-13th.

AT&T iPhone Outage in California/San Francisco?

wondering if you've heard any reports of an iPhone service outage in SF Bay Area? My iPhone and 7-8 other friends no service.

Some comments have popped up on older posts making us wonder as well. Anyone in San Francisco or California in general experiencing any AT&T outages? If so, please sound of in the comments and let us know where and when, and whether it's back or not in your area.

Are Cheap Apps Costing the iPhone Great Games?

We've talked about this several times before on TiPb, but Jeremy Horwitz over at iLounge takes an interesting journey via the game Peggle, what it's release looks like for the Nintendo DS at $30, how retail sales prices break down, and what it might mean for iPhone gamers if they're forced by market conditions to give us a barer-boned $5 version.

Monday Fun Fantasy: Apple MacBook Mini

Is it real, or is it photoshop-fiction? Almost certainly the latter, but since our editor-in-chief, Dieter, went and bought himself a Dell Mini 9, it stands to reason Apple leaked this just to give him a little pay back for the stray Mac.

What If: RIM Released BlackBerry Connect for the iPhone?!

It's WWDC 2009. Steve or Phil or Scott or Joz or whomever is handling the heavy lifting for the iPhone 3.0 section and release-date announcement smiles and says -- "There's one more thing...

"Last year we showed you Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support. Nobody expected it, but we were blown away by the reception. This year, we're announcing BlackBerry Connect support for the iPhone. With this, not only can you chat with your team over BlackBerry Messenger, but you can push data right from your Corporate BES. And to tell us more about it, ladies and gentlemen, here's CrackBerry Kevin the Co-CEO of Research in Motion--"

You'll want to stay tuned to the Smartphone Experts family of sites next week - we'll be live at the CTIA Wireless convention, bringing you all the latest from every manufacturer on all of our sites. Will Android finally have its coming out party? Will Palm finally tell us when the Pre is being released? Will the AT&T Nokia E71 ever get official? Whatever happens, we'll give you the scoop.

i.TV Makes Nice With Comcast, Shakes Up Advertising

It's interesting to see how developers try to monetize their work in the iTunes App Store. With the downward pressure towards $0.99 or free apps, many turn to advertising to make up the difference, but users are getting increasingly oblivious to advertising at the same time.

i.TV, as part of their recent update, has tried to make advertising more compelling by making it more interactive. It's an interesting strategy:

Quick App: Rasta Monkey for iPhone

Cheese on bread, I find the concept of this game irie enough, though the lack of articulation in the eponymous character... nothing a go so. Shouldn't a Rasta Monkey be a wee bit easier now star?

Rasta Monkey is set in the jungle of Jamdown. The gameplay is focused on a happy Rastafarian
monkey who swings around and grabs onto branches to move his way through different jungle
environments. Using monkey-swinging skills, players must snag some delicious fruit along the
way to score points and move to different levels.

Lawyer Lulz: Apple Tries to Sneak in Jailbreak Patent

Remember that Apple patent for biometric and other advanced authentication schemes we mentioned yesterday? Well, Engadget took a closer look and it seems like the artwork used in the patent features none other than a few of everyone's favorite Jailbreak apps, including Installer, SMBPrefs, and the iWood theme.

So is Apple trying to sneak in some Jailbreak patents, or did a crafty draftsman just do it for the lulz?

Top 5 Must Have Jailbreak Apps: Part 3

Wow, so I'm guessing you are all probably really sick of hearing about the 3.0 software. Ok, I really don't believe that but you never know. So how about some jailbreak conversation? You say you’re still on the fence on whether or not to jailbreak your iPhone even after ourTop 5 Must Have Jailbreak AppsPart 1 and Part 2? After reading this you should have hopefully made your decision one way or another. So buckle up and I will take you for a ride... on the wild jailbreak side.

***All of the following apps can be downloaded via Cydia on your Jailbroken iPhone.

Patent Watch: Apple Exploring Advanced Unlocking for Future iPhones?

No, not unlocking the iPhone from AT&T (JAR!), unlocking the iPhone so you can use it. Slide to unlock, passcode unlock, that kind of unlock. Okay, now if you're still reading, Apple Insider has found some patent filings that suggest Apple is exploring things like biometrics (i.e. it reads your fingerprint while you slide to unlock), facial recognition (i.e. uses the camera to analyze who you are/might be) and pattern matching (i.e. choose unique shape combinations as a passcode). But it doesn't stop there: